


We're coupled, born from the universe

by RPFuck (Caliras)



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Conflict, Eventual Fluff, Kidnapping, M/M, Minor Injuries, Obsessive Behavior, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Suicide Attempt, Tags May Change, Tension
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29423730
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caliras/pseuds/RPFuck
Summary: Dan, Wilbur, and Technoblade are the embodiments of space, humanity, and war respectively. Mostly conflict for now because it's what I can write but I'm sure there will be fluff :)Note; this is not based off of DSMP, it is RPF. I have not watched DSMP nor do I intend to, in fact the only one I'm actually subscribed to is Dan. Regardless, I hope you enjoy!
Relationships: Daniel Condren/Wilbur Soot/Technoblade
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	1. You're a goliath to me

**Author's Note:**

> Some rules because this was written about real people or contains caricatures of them. Reading further than the rules means you accept them.
> 
>   1. Do not harass the people I’ve written about- while this should go without saying, do _**not**_ bring this up to them. If I find out that somebody is doing this, I will lock the fic so that only registered users can read it. If you are someone I’ve written about and are uncomfortable with RPF, tell me and I will remove my fics. I don't really mind. My twitter is [@_RPFuck_](https://twitter.com/_RPFuck_) if you'd like to contact me. If anyone I write about says they are uncomfortable with RPF, I will remove it once I’m aware.
>   2. If this fic is deleted and you have it downloaded or saved it through other means, don’t reupload it. Don’t.
>   3. If you are unused to the site, heed the tags. They’re there for a reason.
>   4. (Optional since I know how anxiety is sometimes) If you have anything that says that the people I am writing about are uncomfortable with RPF, I would really appreciate it if you sent it to me. Also, if it’s a ship fic and they have a partner or partners who are uncomfortable with it, feel free to send that over too!
> 

> 
> That’s it for the rules, so thank you for reading and I hope you enjoy the fic!
> 
> * * *
> 
> Dan, Wilbur, and Techno did one (1) mcc and my brain was like, perfect, that's enough for me. So now we have this. And that's about all I have to say about it.

Dan's eyes told of how he lived for thousands of millennia, how he was borne of stars and supernovas. How he was there for galaxies collapsing, the birth of black holes and the sights within. The bottomless irises told that Dan’s lived long enough that every move everyone else made was reduced to dust before his very eyes. They told Techno that he was nothing more than a flake of sand, every move of his swamped by even the slightest _breath_ of a solar flare. As for Techno? Techno's eyes blazed with _life_. Heat pouring off of a never ending battle- wars waged and won and countless deaths he shrugged off because _Technoblade doesn't die_ and how it was going to stay that way. His soul was shaped by victory and deaths that weren't his own and the first spark of adrenaline before a fight broke out. They told Dan that the universe moves and circulates. It has a pulse. _He_ has a pulse. Daniel's _alive_. And if Dan's alive, then Techno can kill him. And Will, who returned from the bathroom, _his_ eyes said 'can't you two chill? Just for, like, _two_ minutes'. Which, coincidentally, was the thing his mouth also said. What a funny world we live in.

“Guys, when I said I wanted you two to meet, I meant meet. Not fight to the death.” Will continued, utterly unimpressed by the two.

Which made sense, considering that the embodiment of humanity would hardly flinch first at the signs of violence. Will was… a toss-up. The flick of a coin and the unpredictability of landing on the edge. Life surged through him, painting him the vibrancy of emotions surging through his skull. Will had eyes that were wise, naive, childish, old, gentle, callous, dead and alive. Will was burning, flying, festering. A rocking set of scales, perfectly yet imperfectly balanced in odds and possibilities. So when he said to chill, War and Space placed down their ire. It could always be picked up later. It wasn’t worth it to fight in front of him.

Techno walked over to him, steady feet barely reminiscent of marching, “Sorry Will, won’t happen again.”

At this, Techno looked at Dan, eyes promising. Always, always promising. War was a promise. Space wasn’t. Dan grinned back, all starlight and the warmth of suns that ballooned in his chest. It was blinding. Painful. A coldness that felt like time dropped emanated from him, the only thing that told of his duality.

“Of course.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Prologues are short, right? Right?


	2. I will be your gravity I will stay and never leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In other news I have no idea what I'm doing and it's going to stay that way :D

Space was loneliness. Always had been. Always _should_ have been. But should is a funny word. It said that something was meant to be, but that it could be broken. Broken… that’s how Wilbur made him feel. That wasn’t quite right though. Will made Dan feel like he held something precious. Something worth everything else. That’s what broke Dan. What continued to break him. What Will broke were simple things. Silence. Emptiness. Monotony. What broke Will were anything but. Famine. Pestilence. Death. War. War and Technoblade were sides of the same coin, just like the rest of them. So it was strange to think that they would become so close. Daniel guesses that it shouldn’t have been. Yet it still surprised him again and again. After he saw them laughing together, hand in hand, he had to force himself to stop being caught off guard.

It would’ve been easier if he could begrudge them for it, but as he was, he couldn’t. No more than he could begrudge a star from merging with another to become a blue straggler. So Dan did what came naturally. He drifted. He let himself focus on the cosmos, the magnetism of the unfolding universe, the weight of supernovas, anything but the life that continued to try to hammer in his chest. He spread himself further and further, coils of himself becoming tightropes. He would become what he needed, even if it meant walking the lines he bound himself to. There was always a point when you stretched yourself too far. It's unfortunate that he only found his limits when the tension snapped.

* * *

Dan doesn’t know where he is. He couldn't breath normally, couldn't breathe at all, couldn't _stop_ breathing in lukewarm fogs that coated his mouth. Take it step by step now. Inhale. Exhale. Now do it again.

Inhale.

Dan’s feet were miles above his head. He was floating. Untethered, hurtling, weightless. Alone.

Exhale.

Wherever he was, he wasn’t supposed to be here. Taken? Maybe. Dan doesn’t know who would try or for what purpose. He shouldn’t have been. He pushed himself too far. It must’ve been easy.

Inhale.

Dan blinked open his eyes, but weren’t they always opened? No, they remained closed. He can see or he can’t. There’s no way to tell. An expanse stretches in front of him, behind him, around him. He isn’t in his body. He isn’t apart from it.

Exhale.

Cold claims his fingertips. He can’t hear anything. Anything but a ringing in his ears. Where is- ah. He’s dreaming. He wasn’t home but there he lay. All he saw were galaxies and felt nothingness.

Inhale.

His muscles were decayed. He can’t move. What is he? Dan was eternity coiled in the blink of an eye. Longing. Twisted.

Exhale.

He’d return to himself, soon. For now, he slept. Dan couldn’t wake up now anyways. Would never wake up, not like this.

Inhale.

His lungs had collapsed, were collapsed, would collapse. His stomach was empty, was never there. Empty. He was empty and hollowed. He was never stars and planets and light and beauty. He was the void. A black hole.

Exhale.

Dan floated further away from himself. He wasn’t built on galaxies, he was a part of them. A hidden piece of glass shattered beyond repair, bleeding colors curving along the cracks.

Inhale.

He was nothing. He was everything.

Exhale.

Nothing. There was nothing.

Inhale.

He couldn't breathe.

Exhale.

* * *

The stars flickered. Even if they hadn’t, Techno would’ve known something had gone wrong with Dan. That didn’t make the deafening silence any easier to bear as the world went quiet in awe. No, not awe. Fear. He could taste it on the back of his tongue. It thickened even as the stars pushed their way back into existence. The drumbeat of hearts filled his ears, despite no one even in his sights. War, the world crowed, that’s what comes after fear. Hear us. Respond to us. Are you listening? Suffocating. The world was suffocating and so was he. Grimacing, he shifted, face morphing into a pig head. It was easier to bear, like this. This was what he used to fight. What he used to drown out everyone and everything else. You couldn’t be distracted in war. Fear sliding off his tongue and back into the chilled air, he refocused. He’d deal with whatever may come later.

A week ago, Dan started pulling away from Will. Today, Dan disappeared completely, something that according to Will, he’d never done before. Grimacing, he started walking again, hooves clacking against the ground at a measured pace. Risk assessment and pattern recognition. That’s what Techno was good at. Had to be good at. So yes, when he knew that Dan had just up and disappeared, he went to look for him. Even if only to reassure Will. And, well, the world at large. Definitely not himself though. Unimportant. That conversation was unimportant. What was important was finding him, not the reasons for it.

He trudged on, letting his body move of its own accord. Right now, with no leads, he had only his own instinct to guide him. And guide him it did. Along forgotten paths and alleyways that told him he’d never seen true darkness until he stepped foot into them. Across bridges that stood their ground above the rivers they defied and under street lamps too tired to try and replace the sun. And then he was there. The warehouse that sprouted from the ground like an ungodly weed in front of him had to be it. The place was wrapped in energy, tendrils of power dripping out of the broken windows and creeping out of the holes in the walls. A trap. It was a trap but Dan was in there. Techno could feel it. Techno closed his eyes, evaluating the situation before opening them up to take in the building again.

The warehouse lights cast scattered yellow light onto the concrete, blue blending into the edges. It sent the building into a stark contrast, the imposing structure only heightened by the lighting. The broken glass windows shimmered in warning, flicking their tongues of light at him. Graffiti curled around the walls, bright colors faded and chipped. No one had seen this place in a long, long time. He sighed, tipping his head back, letting the starry night greet his tired eyes. Was it really worth- yeah, fine. It was. His feet moved forward as he let his head fall back into place. Glass crumbled underneath his hooves as he stepped through the doorway, light sliding up his body. Instinctively, his eyes sought out exits, vantage points, anything of interest. Done cataloging, he finally allowed his eyes to fall on the one person in the room. A bright white mask smiled back at him.

“Dream.”

“Techno!” Dream beamed, kicking off the pillar he was leaning on with ease while pulling his hands out of his pockets. “I was wondering if you’d come! I mean, it’s what I had hoped, y’know, but still! I’m glad you made it!”

Techno watched his performance carefully before speaking, “Oh, yes, yes. Quite the party you have here. Just you and me. And Dan. Where is he by the way? Hiding behind one of these pillars?”

Dream laughed, floaty and high, “Now, _now_ Techno! I thought it would be fun with just you and me! C’mon, how about a rematch?”

“Rematch.”

“Rematch.” Dream’s head tilted, voice betraying nothing.

Techno hated Dream’s mask. He hated it so much. When his life was held utterly in the hands of the barest facial twitch that told him someone's next move, he _needed_ to see faces. He flicked his ears, trying to pick up any noise out of the ordinary.

“Sorry, I’m busy. Where’s Dan.”

Dream held his palms out to Techno, fingers spread unnervingly wide into jazz hands on either side of his mask, “He’s busy! Lot of it going around these days.”

Techno sighed, head dropping minutely. This might take a while. He caught sight of Dreams shoes, the material bending with a weight shift- he darted to his left. A green blur flashed in the corner of his eye not even a split second later. With a flick of his wrist, Techno’s blade came to life in his hand. His body moved with the weight of millions of memories etched into his muscles as Dream lept for him again. With everyone else, it felt like he was fighting in slow motion. When Dream fought him, he had no such luxury. Dream was all agility, mind and body. Where Techno’s feet and hands were guided by familiarity, Dream was wild and quick. Too quick. Far, Techno thought as he made distance between them, far too quick.

The silver claws in place on top of Dream’s fingers glinted winningly in the fluorescent lights. Dream flexed his fingers, claws flashing before he sprung towards Techno again. They locked weapons, neither giving ground. Inexplicably, as it always did, Techno’s tension faded away. This was what he was moulded from. This was the most honest he could ever be. It wasn’t a struggle. It was a dance. One that he led. He moved to the rhythm, the one that only he could hear as it thrummed in the air. Strike- swipe- press advantage- parry- movemovemove. Dream’s claws skid across the blade, sparks leaping off the metal. No hesitation. Can’t afford hesitation. Whipping his arm around, he smacked the flat of his blade into Dream’s shoulder. As he expected, Dream flinched. What wasn’t expected was Dream using the movement to bring his other arm up. He launched himself backward, feet already moving back into a balanced stance.

His shirt was ripped. Blood rolled down in droplets from his chest. His eyes never wavered from Dream’s mask. Dream’s arm hung limply at his side. It didn’t look dislocated or broken, just in pain. Damn. Should’ve hit him harder. Dream flicked his hand, blood flinging away from the sharp edges. Techno could practically see the smile behind his mask. They charged together as one. Lunge. Riposte. Parry. Parry, lunge. Riposte. Step. Step. Swipe- step. Parry, pivot. To the rhythm now. Cut- sway- lunge- don’t be slow now. Parry- PARRY. No mistakes. Keep your head level lest you lose it. They break apart again, both sensing the danger as the other got their footing in this fight. Neither show any strain. Both were used to movement and high stakes.

There’s something in the air, so tangible Technoblade can taste it. He rotates his wrist, feeling the weight of his sword so comfortable in his hand. Once more. That’s what there was. Just one more time. And then- and then it’ll be done. They charged forward as one once more. Techno would be lying if he said that it didn't hurt to see another so desperate for fights. For victory and death. Dream was asking for everything Techno wanted to escape. There was no choice but to give it to him. But maybe. Maybe. Will always said there was a way to stop a war without even striking a blow. Techno wasn't so good with words but _maybe_. His sword was destined for Dream's chest, and claws for his head. Techno wanted another outcome than this. So against his screaming instincts, he relaxed, letting his sword drop away from his lax hands. With the reflexes of someone who has been through all this before, someone who honed himself into something that refuses to die, he grabbed Dream's wrist.

Twisting the both of them he slammed Dream into the ground, Techno’s body chasing after to pin him. Techno forced the weaponed hand up to Dream’s neck, claws hovering over flesh. The mask gave nothing away. Would never give anything away. The hitch of a chest would. The muscles twitching just under skin would. The slight tremor in his hand did, claws seeming to shiver at the thought of blood. How hungry it must be, fed with delusions and burnt at the thought of losing. Techno’s grip on Dream’s hand tightened. It would do him no good if he went through all of that effort for nothing.

“Go home.” Techno told the mask, hoping it would reach the person behind it.

“I- I can’t. I don’t want to.”

“Those are two different answers.”

Dream didn’t answer. Instead, his throat moved with a swallow, barely missing the blades hanging above his neck. The tremor in his hand twitched into something even shakier. Dream was always so confident, so untouchable. Techno wasn't ashamed to admit that he thought this was a trap. Agility in mind was nothing to sniff at. If Dream could get out of a situation through manipulation, Techno was sure he would. For a moment, everything was still. Time ticked forward and neither of them paid it any mind, needing the situation to go their way. The tension snapped as Dream let his head fall back against the floor, sighing. He went lax as he did so and it was everything Techno could do to make sure he didn't skewer Dream from the lack of tension.

“I have to be the best.” The mask was perfect, the perfect circle, the perfect centering of the face, the perfect finish. Techno wanted to crush it.

“We all want to. But we can’t. Give it up.” He knows, oh he knows. Techno’s tried before and he’ll try again. He wants to save Dream from this. Wants to be the best. Wants, wants, wants.

“I _have_ to be.”

“You’re going to destroy yourself. You’ve done enough. It’s okay to stop.”

“It isn’t.”

“Are you going to let that ruin you? I told you, stop.”

“I can’t-”

“You can.”

They once again fell into the noiseless atmosphere of this place. The warehouse wasn’t quiet or loud. It was muffled. Noise found no escape in here. Yet it was enough to carry Dream’s quiet acquiescence.

“...fine.”

* * *

Techno grabbed the lock on the chains that wrapped around Dan. After Dream had conceded, he admitted that Dan was in the basement, handing Techno the key to the chains he’d bound Dan in. Some part of him was disappointed at how easy the resolution was, a part easily ignored. It was better this way. Much, much better. Quickly opening the lock, he felt the threads of energy that alerted him to the building recede away. Fading and pulling it released the building back in a state of lethargy, energy leveling out. He hadn’t even felt the buzz in the back of his head until it left with them. As the chains loosened around Dan so, it would seem, did the clutches of sleep as Dan stirred. Paying him no mind for now, he continued to unwind the metal, dropping it away from Dan. It didn’t seem to be too tight so Dream must’ve been pretty confident in his energy binding. Then again, even unconscious, Techno could see the slump of exhaustion in Dan’s shoulders.

Techno’s eyes flicked up to look at Dan again only to see blank vacant eyes looking back at him. Shit. He clearly wasn’t all that there right now and Techno was sure that him still looking rather pig-like wasn’t helping. Just as Techno was about to back off to let him figure it all out, however, Dan’s eyes turned just as fast. A slight widening of his eyes was all the warning Techno got before the explosion went off. Techno was thrown backwards, and not even pausing for him to catch his bearings, his body forced him back onto his feet. He didn’t even process a second of what happened until he was staring in the face of it. Ah. Alright. A figure looking exactly what you would imagine a rip in the fabric of reality to look like stood in the middle of the room. The rest of the chains crumbled away from him. Dammit. Of course this would happen. Of course, he literally just got kidnapped and he had no idea where he was so-

“Hey Dan.”

The void looked at him and Techno could swear he felt his atoms _crawl_. He wanted to do the same, wanted to shift fully. To do what Dan had done. Welcome the rush of power so he could once again be on the same level as Dan. But half-shift would do. He didn’t need to escalate the situation more than it was already. Besides, full-shift was draining. More so when he had just fought someone. In his peripheral, he can see his sword where it had launched out of his grip. No. It’s just Dan. They can talk this out, Dan just acted on instinct. Besides, full-shift was as calming as it was draining. This wouldn’t take long. He can’t dwell on that any further as Dan moves in what Techno thinks he can interpret as a head tilt. Then Dan was before him.

Techno braces his feet as subtly as he can manage before performatively dropping his guard. Dan relaxes too, an exhaustion barely evident even to someone trained to look for it. Alright. He was right, not long at all. Techno could taste iron flooding over his tongue as Dan creeps just the slightest bit closer.

“You-” Dan creaked, not even a voice as you would explain it. But just enough to get the message across. “Why…?”

Dan stuttered, body flickering in and out of existence before settling again. He must be more tired than Techno had originally thought.

“Why are you here?” Dan sounded like planets forming and the fusion of stars. He usually didn’t speak like this and it put every one of Technoblade’s hairs on end.

Technoblade gestured disarmingly towards the apparition, “I’m here for you. You disappeared.”

“For me?”

Technoblade nodded, controlled and wary.

“For me...” The pull of gravity Dan exerted tightened before it dissipated. “For... me.”

Oh. _Oh_. Technoblade gets it now. He- yeah. He gets it. Lost. That’s what space was. That’s what _Dan_ was. Scattered and burdened and a nothingness that expanded for so long, there was no other word to explain it. The weight on his shoulders nothing more than something he had to learn how to live with. No glory or praise or pride from it. Technoblade knew the feeling. Maybe they both knew it too well. Dan shuddered, looking vaguely more human than he had been. Slowly, so slowly, Dan gathered the stardust he was made out of and rebuilt himself. Brick by brick. Cell by cell. He regained himself.

“That's- that's nice. That’s nice,” Dan repeated, voice forced through vocal cords instead of the cosmos. It was raw and tired, and the familiarity of it made Techno smile, “Thank you.”

“Of course,” Technoblade responded, but it was too late. Dan had already collapsed. Sighing, Techno gathered him up in a fireman carry, ready to leave this place behind them. It was time to go home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I should clarify that Dream is agility and no, no I haven't watched him much at all so rip to his characterization.


End file.
